1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a wafer protective container. More particularly, the present invention relates to an integrated circuit (IC) wafer protective container that allows secure storage and easy loading and unloading of IC wafers contained therein to prevent contamination and damage of the IC wafers.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, IC wafers are stored in a cylindrical storage box consisting of a lid and a body. Because the IC wafers are thin and fragile, layers of sponge are usually inserted between the IC wafers to prevent rigorous movement of the IC wafers inside the storage box. The storage box for holding the IC wafers is typically made with a box opening designed to just match the size of the IC wafer, so it is very difficult to load and unload the IC wafers. After the storage box is filled with a desired amount of the IC wafers, the lid is pushed into the body to close the box. Since the storage box is merely closed with a lid, a seal between the lid and the body may be broken by rigorous movement during transportation. As a result, the IC wafers contained within the storage box are contaminated by the surroundings. This problem is traditionally overcome by sealing the storage box with numerous layers of masking tape, which cover a junction between the lid and the body member. However, this increases the cost for packaging the IC wafer products and also makes the whole process more complicated.
Additionally, it is known from the prior art that the box has to be inverted in order to remove the IC wafers from the box, and unloading the IC wafers in this manner can damage the IC wafers, thus causing more IC wafer loss.